USATT Names 2023-2024 National Team Coaching Pool
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by Joshua Dyke
Coach Gao Jun during a practice session inside Pabellón De Tenis De Mesa at the 2021 ITTF Pan American Youth Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Sept. 2021.
Mark Hazinski, Maggie Tian, Hailong Shen, Wei Qi, Huijing Wang, and Tim Wang Named to the 2023-2024 National Team Coaching Pool.
Colorado Springs, Colo. (Jan. 26, 2023) – USA Table Tennis today announces the National Team Coaching pool for 2023-2024 as determined by the USATT Selection Committee.
The 2023-2024 National Team Coaching Pool will consist of Mark Hazinski, Hailong Shen, Maggie Tian, Wei Qi, Huijing Wang and Tim Wang. The new coaching roster will join U.S. National Team Head Coach, Gao Jun, to further the developmental efforts and build upon the recent achievements of the U.S. National Teams in international competition.
“Our New National Team Coaching Pool includes former Olympians and coaches with a lot of coaching experience in all age category. I look forward to the new coaching team can pass on the better skills and experience of international competitions to the young players and lead the team to victory in international competitions.”
– Gao Jun, U.S. National Team Head Coach
The USATT Selection Committee for the upcoming USA Table Tennis National Team Coaching Pool for 2023-2024:
Khoa Nguyen – Chair of the HPC – Olympian
Tara Profitt – Chair of the AAC – Paralympian
Jun Gao – National Team Head Coach – Olympian
Jasna Rather – Para Program Manager – Olympian
Amy Feng – Member of the HPC – Olympian
Virginia Sung – CEO
The National Team Coaches will guide the development and execution through events run by the International Table Tennis Federation, World Table Tennis, the Pan American Championships/Games and leading into Paris Olympic Games 2024.
The experienced new group of coaches selected for the upcoming year was heavily recent successes in international completion, most notably the 2022 Pan Am Events. The updated coaching squad will aim to elevate the U.S. National teams in 2023. The coaches have their efforts set on medaling while keeping an eye on gold following a successful 2022 outing for the U.S. National teams — 46 medals in total while tallying 21 gold in Senior and Junior events (U19, U15, U13 & U11).
Mark Hazinski spent three years as the head coach of the North Texas Table Tennis Center from 2016-2019. Hazinski assisted in numerous coaching camps during those years; training camps at Texas Wesleyan University, Dan Seemiller table tennis camps, and the 2017 China in North America training camp. His most recent outing with the U.S. National Team was as the U.S. Men’s National Team Coach at the 2022 Pan Am Championships in Santiago, Chile.
"I’m very excited to be selected for the National Team coaching pool and am looking forward to working with the team in future tournaments. I got my first chance coaching the Men’s National team at the most recent Pan American Championships and I felt that the athletes and I connected well, and we had good results overall. The U.S. team has been starting to compete with the best countries in the world. I’m looking to help continue this trajectory by utilizing my past experiences as a player and through film analysis of the current National Team athletes and their possible competitors to help."
Wei Qi coached at the youth U.S. National Teams at the 2022 ITTF Youth Pan American Championships. At the events he handled much of the game film and athlete preparations for the U19, U15, U13 & U11 players. These efforts helped lead the Junior National team to medal success during the 2022 visits to South America. At the Aug. 2022 ITTF Pan American Cadet Championships hosted by Cuenca, Ecuador, the U15 Boys team won gold medals for all events, Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Teams. Qi Wei served as the coaching team leader the following month in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at the 2022 ITTF Pan American Championships U11 & U13, where the Boys and Girls teams brought home 23 medals (nine golds, nine silvers and five bronze medals).
Hailong Shen began his tenure as a coach in the U.S. in 2008, and in that time as a coach, he has mentored several National Champions throughout his coaching career. One of his students, Ariel Hsing, represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympic Games. Another prominent student of Shen is Irene Yeoh, U11 Champion for 2021 and 2022. Yeoh found notable triumphs at the 2022 ITTF Pan American U11 & U13 Championship, earning four gold medals in the U11 Girls’ Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and the Team Event.
“I am very grateful to USATT for awarding me the honor to be a member of the 2023-2024 U.S. National Team Coaching Pool. This is the greatest affirmation and recognition of my table tennis career. I can see that USATT has significantly elevated U.S. table tennis development through many successful promotional events and high-level competitions. There is no doubt in my mind that this continued improvement will steadily advance the U.S. in the international arena. I commit my best ability to fulfill my duty and assist Head Coach Gao Jun in achieving a maximum outcome for Team USA during my serving term.”
Maggie Tian rejoins the U.S. National Team Coaching pool after formerly being selected to the squad in 2016. In the years following, Tian has coached many U.S. National Team members domestically and internationally, bringing the valued experience of numerous international excursions. Tian led U.S. athletes at Junior and Cadet events in Fiji in 2017. She also successfully coached U.S. athletes in Canada, France and Italy in Juniors and Cadets again in 2018. In May of 2022, Tian led the U.S. Team to four bronze medals while coaching at the 2022 ISF World School Summer Games in France.
Huijing Wang, U.S. Olympian and full-time coach out of Houston, Texas, since 2010, joined the National Team Coaching Pool in 2022 and returns for another run in 2023 after leading the U.S. National U15 Girls Team to four gold medals — Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and the Team Event at the 2022 ITTF Pan American Cadet Championships in Cuenca, Ecuador. In August of 2022, she led the U.S. National U19 Boys Team Rosario, Argentina, and they finished with bronze medals in Mixed Doubles and the Team.
Timothy Wang brings his experiences as a U.S. Olympian and the ability to delve deep into the technical knowledge he has gathered as a coach and by working alongside elite coaches of the sport. Wang began working with the Dutch National Team in 2008. By 2011, Wang found himself perfecting his coaching craft as a table tennis coach in Eslöv, Sweden. 2017 proved to be a catalyst for Wang and his coaching career. He went on to coach Michael Tran and Nikhil Kumar to gold medals at the 2017 Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open, and Tran again to Cadet National Championship to round out the year of competition at home and abroad. That same year he facilitated the training camp between the Chinese and U.S. National Teams under Coach Gao Jun and Yu Yang. During his most recent coaching endeavors, Wang coached Kary Feng to the 2021 Cadet National Team.
“It is exciting to be working with the U.S. National Team again. With my experience as a player and now coach, I hope to pass on knowledge to our athletes to achieve their highest potential both during competitions and in training. Together we will strive for excellence.”
Nominations for the updated coaching pool for 2023-2024 were thoroughly considered by the joint selection committee to carefully craft a team of coaches who were best determined to bring out the abilities of the U.S. National Teams. In the process, to construct a coaching team that values the development of USATT athletes and achieve future success in table tennis on the world stage.
The 2023-2024 National Team Coaching Pool is eager and ready to put their efforts towards achieving success for the United States. The coaches look forward to adapting their coaching styles and techniques to bring out the potential of their athletes. USA Table Tennis is ready to see how these coaches work together to strengthen the National Team as they dawn a new year of fierce international competition leading into the 2024 Paris Olympics.
